This guide covers only local stuff. What about trips into Seoul? This guide doesn’t cover any Seoul destinations. There are better options on-line for that. This guide is for practical information: KIS neighborhoods, E-mart, Home Plus, Costco, Samsung Medical. For Seoul destinations, see instructions on how to use naver.com’s excellent interactive public transit guide, or use the bus and subway phone apps.
Help! My iPhone map isn’t showing much useful information! Solution: stop using Apple maps. It’s about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Use googlemaps (there’s an app) or naver (the Seoul bus app automatically defaults to naver). Unfortunately, the subway app for iPhone defaults to Apple maps. There’s a button for google maps, but sometimes it works slowly, sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Except for that tiny detail, the subway app is awesome. Just use the googlemaps app for finding subway exits.
Which is faster -- bus or subway? Most of the time, subway will be faster. After all, it travels underneath the traffic. But subway stops are fewer and farther between, meaning unless your destination is within a couple of blocks of the subway station, you might have a long walk after you exit the subway. The bus stops more frequently, meaning less walking in most cases. But those frequent stops, and the notorious big-city traffic, slow buses down considerably. The exceptions are the red express buses into Seoul. They almost always beat the subway. But once they cross the river and get into Seoul, they too get bogged down in traffic. Often, if I’m going into Seoul, I take a red express bus, then get off as soon as it gets north of the river in heavy traffic and hop on the nearest subway.
What’s the deal with all these different-colored buses? And what’s with the numbers? It’s explained in more and better detail elsewhere, but if you want only the quick version: Red buses are express buses that don’t stop as much (usually to/from Seoul) Green buses are more local, staying within a single city or two, going a few km Yellow buses are even more local, usually small loop routes Blue buses (trunk) go from one region to another Blue buses (med. blue) take passengers only if there are seats, so they can become express buses if they’re full The bus numbers tell where the bus goes to and from. See here for serious geeky detail.
How can I tell which bus stop is my exit? Listen to the automatic announcements. You’ll learn the Korean phrase for “This stop” and “Next stop” without even trying, because they say them so frequently. Big destinations are always announced -- like E-mart, large apartment complexes, etc., and the Korean is easy to translate (Eee-mah-tuh, for example). Subway stations are also announced -- the word for station sounds like “yawk”, as in “Sunae yawk”. And some buses announce in Korean, then English. Also -- while you’re riding, look at the bus app map for the bus number you’re on. It ties into naver, making it easy to see which stop is closest to your destination.
How can I tell what’s north/south/east/west just getting off a bus or the subway? Look at the map on your smart phone. Find the blue dot -- that’s you. (Press the arrow locator key if necessary.) Zoom way in. Walk somewhere. Anywhere. Watch which direction the blue dot moves. If it moves up, you’re going north. Down is south, right is east, left is west.
In the subway station, how can I tell which train to catch in which direction? See first page, about downloading the subway app. Or, look at the maps in every station. (Okay, these maps are oriented all sorts of directions, with no guarantee that north is up.) Find your destination station on the map. Find a significant station or two in the same general direction. (Like, the last station of the line, a big transfer station, an important-sounding one like a museum or university or park or something.) The signs in the subway station always have the last station of the line and at least one other significant station named in English. Follow the signs that match the direction you’re going. You can also use station numbers. Generally speaking, from where we live, the station numbers get lower as you approach Seoul and higher as you leave Seoul coming back home (south). And finally, there are always cute little warning songs about a half-minute before the train arrives. There’s a toward-Seoul song and an away-from-Seoul song. Learn to recognize the difference between them, if that’s your thing. But by the time you hear it, it’s probably too late to get to the other side if you’re on the wrong side :-)
There are SO MANY subway lines and stations! How can I possibly tell them apart, when some of them are even the same color? From where we live (south of Seoul), there are three lines that will be your workhorses. The yellow line (Bundang) is the closest to all of the KIS neighborhoods and to KIS. The new red line (Sinbundang -- literally means new Bundang) is an express line that cuts off a good chunk of the yellow line to get you to Gangnam faster for most KIS staff. (With transfers, it’ll also get you to Seoul faster than the yellow/Bundang line.) For Jeongja folks, it shares your station with the Bundang line. Then one you’ll use less often (but still some) is the orange line (#3), which runs by Samsung hospital, through Gangnam, through some significant transfer hubs, and then into the heart of the touristy areas of Seoul. The yellow/Bundang line has recently been extended all the way into eastern Seoul, terminating at a transfer to three other lines that also take you to touristy areas, so the orange/3 isn’t as useful to KIS folks as it once was. But you’ll still find it handy. The green line (#2) is a loop around Seoul, so it comes in handy sometimes too for short stretches.
How do I know which exit to take when leaving the subway station? Plan ahead. :-) Seriously, if you go to most Seoul English-language web sites, the directions they give will include the subway exit number. If the web site is all-Korean, find the map on the web site and they almost always show subway exit numbers and the location of the business or location you’re going to. If you’re giving someone directions to your place, or if you’re asking for directions to someone else’s place or to a meeting place, ALWAYS ask/tell what subway exit. You can also zoom in on your smartphone map. Googlemaps will show you exit numbers. If you know the general direction from the subway station to your destination, you can probably figure it out.
FAQ’s
This guide covers only local stuff. What about trips into Seoul?
This guide doesn’t cover any Seoul destinations. There are better options on-line for that. This guide is for practical information: KIS neighborhoods, E-mart, Home Plus, Costco, Samsung Medical. For Seoul destinations, see instructions on how to use naver.com’s excellent interactive public transit guide, or use the bus and subway phone apps.
Help! My iPhone map isn’t showing much useful information!
Solution: stop using Apple maps. It’s about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Use googlemaps (there’s an app) or naver (the Seoul bus app automatically defaults to naver). Unfortunately, the subway app for iPhone defaults to Apple maps. There’s a button for google maps, but sometimes it works slowly, sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Except for that tiny detail, the subway app is awesome. Just use the googlemaps app for finding subway exits.
Which is faster -- bus or subway?
Most of the time, subway will be faster. After all, it travels underneath the traffic. But subway stops are fewer and farther between, meaning unless your destination is within a couple of blocks of the subway station, you might have a long walk after you exit the subway. The bus stops more frequently, meaning less walking in most cases. But those frequent stops, and the notorious big-city traffic, slow buses down considerably. The exceptions are the red express buses into Seoul. They almost always beat the subway. But once they cross the river and get into Seoul, they too get bogged down in traffic. Often, if I’m going into Seoul, I take a red express bus, then get off as soon as it gets north of the river in heavy traffic and hop on the nearest subway.
What’s the deal with all these different-colored buses? And what’s with the numbers?
It’s explained in more and better detail elsewhere, but if you want only the quick version:
Red buses are express buses that don’t stop as much (usually to/from Seoul)
Green buses are more local, staying within a single city or two, going a few km
Yellow buses are even more local, usually small loop routes
Blue buses (trunk) go from one region to another
Blue buses (med. blue) take passengers only if there are seats, so they can become express buses if they’re full
The bus numbers tell where the bus goes to and from. See here for serious geeky detail.
How can I tell which bus stop is my exit?
Listen to the automatic announcements. You’ll learn the Korean phrase for “This stop” and “Next stop” without even trying, because they say them so frequently. Big destinations are always announced -- like E-mart, large apartment complexes, etc., and the Korean is easy to translate (Eee-mah-tuh, for example). Subway stations are also announced -- the word for station sounds like “yawk”, as in “Sunae yawk”. And some buses announce in Korean, then English. Also -- while you’re riding, look at the bus app map for the bus number you’re on. It ties into naver, making it easy to see which stop is closest to your destination.
How can I tell what’s north/south/east/west just getting off a bus or the subway?
Look at the map on your smart phone. Find the blue dot -- that’s you. (Press the arrow locator key if necessary.) Zoom way in. Walk somewhere. Anywhere. Watch which direction the blue dot moves. If it moves up, you’re going north. Down is south, right is east, left is west.
In the subway station, how can I tell which train to catch in which direction?
See first page, about downloading the subway app.
Or, look at the maps in every station. (Okay, these maps are oriented all sorts of directions, with no guarantee that north is up.) Find your destination station on the map. Find a significant station or two in the same general direction. (Like, the last station of the line, a big transfer station, an important-sounding one like a museum or university or park or something.) The signs in the subway station always have the last station of the line and at least one other significant station named in English. Follow the signs that match the direction you’re going.
You can also use station numbers. Generally speaking, from where we live, the station numbers get lower as you approach Seoul and higher as you leave Seoul coming back home (south).
And finally, there are always cute little warning songs about a half-minute before the train arrives. There’s a toward-Seoul song and an away-from-Seoul song. Learn to recognize the difference between them, if that’s your thing. But by the time you hear it, it’s probably too late to get to the other side if you’re on the wrong side :-)
There are SO MANY subway lines and stations! How can I possibly tell them apart, when some of them are even the same color?
From where we live (south of Seoul), there are three lines that will be your workhorses. The yellow line (Bundang) is the closest to all of the KIS neighborhoods and to KIS. The new red line (Sinbundang -- literally means new Bundang) is an express line that cuts off a good chunk of the yellow line to get you to Gangnam faster for most KIS staff. (With transfers, it’ll also get you to Seoul faster than the yellow/Bundang line.) For Jeongja folks, it shares your station with the Bundang line. Then one you’ll use less often (but still some) is the orange line (#3), which runs by Samsung hospital, through Gangnam, through some significant transfer hubs, and then into the heart of the touristy areas of Seoul. The yellow/Bundang line has recently been extended all the way into eastern Seoul, terminating at a transfer to three other lines that also take you to touristy areas, so the orange/3 isn’t as useful to KIS folks as it once was. But you’ll still find it handy. The green line (#2) is a loop around Seoul, so it comes in handy sometimes too for short stretches.
How do I know which exit to take when leaving the subway station?
Plan ahead. :-) Seriously, if you go to most Seoul English-language web sites, the directions they give will include the subway exit number. If the web site is all-Korean, find the map on the web site and they almost always show subway exit numbers and the location of the business or location you’re going to. If you’re giving someone directions to your place, or if you’re asking for directions to someone else’s place or to a meeting place, ALWAYS ask/tell what subway exit.
You can also zoom in on your smartphone map. Googlemaps will show you exit numbers. If you know the general direction from the subway station to your destination, you can probably figure it out.